The dress. The shoes.  The make up.  Applying your perfume and your lipstick.  Tying ties.  Buttoning buttons and securing cuff links. All these little details that go into getting ready for one of the most anticipated days of your life — your wedding day! You’ll be mixed with a nervous excitement while you are putting on your earrings and he may have shaky hands while tying his bowtie. But it’s all that sweet anticipation that leads up to the BIG moment when you both say “I Do”!

When you plan your wedding day around your pictures, these special and exciting moments get captured in a fun and vivid way.  Now, I’m not just saying this because I am a wedding photographer and I want your day to be planned all around me…no way!!  I tell all of my Emma Loo Brides that if you plan your day with your images in mind and build a wedding timeline that ensures the most photography coverage, then you’ll be able to enjoy all of those lovely images of those moments from your wedding day to cherish for many wonderful years afterwards.

When my Bride and I work together at creating a wedding day timeline, I can educate my Bride enough to help her make the photography run smoothly throughout her entire day. There’s a lot of pre-planning and organization that goes into this, but those two things are vital when planning a wedding.  Let’s face it- a wedding HAS to be ORGANIZED. You’ve waited your entire life for this ONE DAY, you’ve spent countless hours planning and spent lots of money on your wedding day…why not make sure it’s well organized and fully covered photographically! Today’s Wedding Wednesday post will help out my Emma Loo Brides (& Brides to be!) plan for the preparation time on wedding day!

First thing that I do when I arrive on Wedding Day is first find my Emma Loo Bride and I give her a great big hug and say “YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED TODAY!” Normally I’m wherever the Bride is getting ready-either at home, at a salon, in a hotel room, or at the wedding venue itself.  When planning your day, keep in mind that natural light is key! Try to get ready in a location with LOTS OF WINDOWS that allow for a lot of NATURAL LIGHT to fill up the room. Light can make or break an image, so sometimes I’ve been the one to tell the Bride that we need to do all of the getting ready shots by a window, making us limited on what the images look like!  I just CRINGE when I enter a getting ready room in a church basement or in a dark room of a house because I know that the images could be a heck of a lot better if only there was more natural light in the area.  Sadly, I haven’t been brave enough to tell my Brides that we should move to another location or even start getting dressed OUTSIDE if the getting ready location isn’t well lit, but why not?! I’m going to start doing this more, because last weekend I had my Bride getting ready in a Kindergarten Sunday School room so I was VERY limited on where I could shoot and what looked good! My Brides are investing in these images and I want to make sure that I give them beautiful portraits from START to finish! Again, I’m not just saying this because I’m a wedding photographer, but seriously Brides…Trust your photographer! We know where and what kind of lighting looks and photographs best.

Look for a room with windows! Lots of windows! Here’s a couple examples of getting ready rooms with natural light.   

Once I say my hellos to the Bride and the Bridesmaids, I like to shoot all of the Bridal Details.  These details take time, and are very important to your day so make sure you allow enough TIME for these shots.  I spend about 30-40 minutes on JUST your BRIDAL DETAILS and also spend about 45 minutes of the entire getting ready process.  I make sure to allow enough time for at least an hour and a half before the First Look or at least two hours before the ceremony start time to capture EVERYTHING!  I also take this time to capture candids, get to know your bridal party, spend time taking pictures of the Groom getting ready if no second shooter and if he’s in the same location, and shoot all of the details before you get into your gown.  If you build an adequate amount of time in your wedding day timeline for these images, I am also able to photograph a BRIDAL PORTRAIT after the dress goes on and prior to the First Look or Ceremony.  This is also a time where I get to really photograph your bouquet, so it’s pretty vital! 🙂 To save some time (& having me ask you or your Bridesmaids where everything is!) gather all your details ahead of time! Here’s a list of what you’ll need at your getting ready location:

Veil/Headpiece

ALL of the Rings

Dress  (on a wooden hanger or custom hanger)

Shoes 

Your Jewelry

Bouquet

(You’ll need it for First Look and Pre-Ceremony Portraits, so make sure it’s delivered to your getting ready location!)

A FULL Invitation (addressed and stamped envelope and all contents is a plus!)

A Ceremony Program

Other Important Details (“Something Borrowed, Something blue, your garter, notes to exchange, gifts…)

Here are some examples:

I hope this has helped! Happy Wednesday!

XO! -Emma Loo